Atsuto Uchida of the Kashima Antlers has joined Schalke on a three-year deal that will keep him in Gelsenkirchen until 30 June 2013. Uchida will become the first Japanese player to pull on a Royal Blue shirt.

The exact date of the 22-year-old's arrival at the club will depend on how well the Japanese national team perform at the World Cup in South Africa. Uchida is in the Japan squad that kicks off the tournament against Cameroon at 1600 CET on Monday.

Uchida has played for his country 31 times to date (1 goal) and also featured at the 2007 Under-20 World Cup and 2008 Olympic Games. He joined Kashima Antlers in 2006 and has since picked up league championship medals in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The Japan right-back becomes the fifth player to join the Royal Blues ahead of the new season following the arrival of Tim Hoogland (Mainz), Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid), Erik Jendrisek (Kaiserslautern) and Lars Unnerstall (Schalke II).